Attachment for piano-pedals.



H. B. VANHUOK. 4 ATTACHMENT FOR PIANO PEDALE. APPLICATION P11111) JUNI: 14, 1910.

985,304. Patenwms, 1911.

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NI'IICD STATES HENRY BRUCE VANI-100K, OF WASHINGTON, NORTH CAROLIN4.

PATENT onirica.

ATTACHMENT FOR PIANO-PEDALS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented FGI), 28, 1911,

Application filed June 14, 1910. Serial No. 566,795.

T o all whom tt 'may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, HENRY BRUCE VAN- rtooii, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of l/Vashington, in the county of Beaufort and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Piano- Pedals, of which the following is a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to musical 4instruments and particularly to attachments for piano pedals and a piano case designed to coact for the purpose of guarding the openingsfor the pedals in order to prevent access to the interior of the case of mice or the like or under certain conditions to utilize an attachment for the pedals alone for the purpose of guarding the pedal openings.

An object of this invention is to produce guards for the pedal openings which may be adjusted with relation to the front of the case for the purpose of properly positioning the guards on the pedals in such relation to the front of the case as to eectually guard the openings, as stated.

lWith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of'parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, in which- Figure 1 illustrates a view in elevation of a fragment of a piano tion applied thereto; Fig. 2 illustrates a sectional view showing the case and the guard applied to the case and to the pedal; Fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view of a fragment of a pedal with a guard plate applied thereto; Fig. 4; illustrates a perspective view of a plate and housing designed to coact with the pedal and case; and Fig. 5 illustrates a top plan view of a fragment of the pedal showing the adjustable connection of the guard and pedal. 4

In these drawings 10, denotes a fragment of a piano case having openings 11 and 12 therein, the latter of which is surrounded on three sides by a plate 13, having on its inner edge an outwardly extending flange 14 forming a housing in which a pedal 15 is movable. The plate 13 may be secured to case with the inven-' the case by any appropriate fastenings but I have shown screws 16 for that purpose.

The pedal 15 is provided with a slot 17 extending longitudinally thereof to receive a bolt 1'8 which bolt projects below the lower surface of the pedal and has mounted on it the end of a guard 19, the said guard being provided with an aperture 20 for there'ception of the bolt 18. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the guard extends downwardly and inwardly or rearwardly toward the case which relation of the guard and the case will result in increasing its efliciency owing to the fact that the pedal moves to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 but rests in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. By having the guard extending toward the case the opening in the case is more effectually guarded. By the relation of the guard to the pedal here shown, the pedal is allowed to oscillate without affecting the operative relation of the guard to the opening or to the housing with which it coacts and is adapted to guard an opening in the piano case 10. In Fig. 2, the relation of the guard 19 to the fiange 14 is shown and as the said guard is nearly equal in length to the width of the housing formed by the iiange 14, the opening in the piano case is closed against the ingress of mice or the like and therefore the interior of the case is guarded against damage.

Under certain conditions, that is to say whenthe bottom of the case recedes with respect to the front of the oase, it may be possible to employ the guard plate 19 without' the housing pl'ate and when such conditions are encountered, the guard 19 may move closer toward the front surface of the case through the medium of the adjustable bolt heretofore described. I provide means for guarding the pedal openings of piano cases by a single guard plate for each opening or a guard plate acting in conjunction with a housing plate, thus adapting the invention for piano cases of different constructions.

If desired, I may form the housings or flanges 14 for a plurality of pedal openings on a single plate and as the size of the plate is immaterial, it follows that a plate may be made with one, two or three flanges according to the number of pedals employed on a case.

I claim- 1. An upright piano case having pedal openings therein, a pedal in an opening, a guard plate for said opening, the said plate having` an opening therein registering` Wit-l1 the pedal opening, and said plate having a Harige extending outwardly from the front of the ease partially embracing the pedal and guard.

` 2. An attachment for upright pianos Comprising a plate having a pedal opening and a iange at said opening` forming a housing, a guard adapted to loe secured to a pedal and to eoaet with the flange, and means for adjustably Connecting the guard to a pedal Within the housing.

3. An upright piano oase having a pedal opening therein, a plate'ha'ving a edal opening` secured to the easwat the pe al opening thereof, and a fiange on the plate forming a housing, a pedal having a slot extending longitudinally thereof, a holt slidable in the slot, a guard mounted on the bolt, said guard being adapted to eoaet with the housing to form a barrier.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in the presence of tvvo Witnesses.

HENRY- BRUCE VANHOOK.

Witnesses:

S. P. VViLLIs, W. L. VAUGHAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.y 

